Tragic country music star Mindy McCready had been working on a suicide awareness video right before her death, it was revealed today.

Private investigator Danno Hanks told E! News the 37-year-old had asked him to work on a cover of I'll See You Yesterday which was written by Courtney Dashe, a fan of McCready's who wanted her to sing the song.

Then on Saturday, the day before she was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at her Arkansas home, she sent him a frame for a video with a suicide hotline number.

He said: 'She said she wanted to put together this video to help people deal when
someone had suffered a suicide in their life and God, she was literally
having me write her suicide note.

Scroll down for video from Mindy's heyday

Tragic: Mindy McCready, 37, killed herself on the same front porch where her 'soulmate' David Wilson died on January 13

Billy McKnight said: 'As sad as it is, it didn¿t come as a major shock, because she¿s just been battling demons for so long. I was around her when she attempted suicide twice, so I knew it was in her'

Leading lady: Mindy McCready became an instant star in 1996 at age 20 with the release of her debut album 'Ten Thousand Angels.' She dated 'Lois and Clark' actor Dean Cain and was frequently seen on the red carpet

Yellow crime-scene tape blocks off the home of Mindy McCready in Heber Springs, Arkansas on Monday, February 18, 2013, the day after the country singer was found dead there Sunday in an apparent suicide

Scene: Her death came only days after she was released from rehab. A judge had ordered her committed to a mental health facility after she admitted she had been drinking too much

'If I had known, I would
have made sure someone was there with her all the time. I thought she was talking about sending a message about suicide for
David's death but this is unbelievable.

'She was sending me a message. I wish I had been more alert to what it was. I just didn't think she would do this. She had two kids to live for. I still can't fathom the whole thing.'

Her death comes one month after her
live-in boyfriend David Wilson died in the same spot on January 13, also
from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, though this was being investigated
at the time.

This morning, the singer's
ex-boyfriend spoke about her tragic suicide, admitting it didn't come as
a shock to him after witnessing two previous attempts and because 'she
still hadn't beaten her demons'.

Billy McKnight, who is the father of Mindy's eldest son Zander, spoke candidly about his troubled ex girlfriend and said he is now going to focus on getting his son back. He lost custody after he was accused of trying to kill McCready.

He
told the Today show: 'As sad as it is, it didn’t come as a major shock,
because she’s just been battling demons for so long. I was around her
when she attempted suicide twice, so I knew it was in her.

'The
demons that she hasn't beaten were still there, and until she was going
to face them, something was going to happen. Everyone who knows her
personally knew that.

'She
would have had to probably stay in somewhere [rehab] for quite a long
time until she really healed and started looking into herself or getting
better.'

Speaking about
his son Zander, he said: 'He
shouldn't have been taken from me to begin with. He has a happy home
here [in Florida].

'I
can provide for him. It's just been a really big mess and enough is
enough. He's up there, all alone. He has no family in Arkansas. He has
plenty of family who love him here, cousins, aunts, uncles. He needs to
come home.

'I would
like to keep those boys being brothers together and try to turn my son's
life around. He has had a rough first six years. He deserves better
than this and my heart is broken for him right now. I'm very worried.'

She shot the family dog before killing herself.

The 37-year-old had been forced to deny she had played any role in Wilson's death and called him her 'soul mate.'

Asked by Dateline if she had killed her boyfriend, McCready responded: 'Oh my God, no. He was my life, we were each other's life.'

THE COUNTRY MUSIC WORLD MOURNS

'My heart goes out to Mindy McCready's family. I knew her well. It's a horrible tragedy. May peace be with her sons.' LeAnn Rimes

'It breaks my heart what addiction continues to take from this life. Addiction is a disEASE [sic] & not a character flaw. When the pain becomes too much, it causes people to want that pain to stop. This is just so unbelievable & so sad.' Wynonna Judd

'I grew up listening to Mindy McCready...so sad for her family tonight. Many prayers are going out to them.' Carrie Underwood

'Really really sad to learn the news about Mindy McCready. will pray for her children and I hope that people are gentle with her memory.' Chely Wright

'My heart is breaking hearing of the loss of Mindy McCready. Pray for her two precious little boys. May God's peace and protection be on them!' Hillary Scott'Very sad to hear about Mindy McCready. When I was in Lonestar she was our label mate and we were friends. A tragic end to a talented life.' John Rich

Her death came only days after she was
released from rehab. A judge had ordered her committed to a mental
health facility after she admitted she had been drinking too much. Her
father said she was also abusing prescription drugs again.

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McCready spent just one day in a treatment facility before she was allowed to go home earlier this month.

'She was released because they think
she is mentally stable enough, and she was tested for drugs and alcohol
and everything came up fine,' a source toldE! News. 'Nothing illegal came up.'

'One
of the reasons they released her is she didn't have any symptoms of
what an alcoholic would have. There were no signs she had a problem to
the doctor.'

Last night, tributes came pouring in for the country music star as other stars offered their condolences.

'My heart goes out to Mindy McCready's family. I knew her well,' LeAnn Rimes said on Twitter. 'It's a horrible tragedy. May peace be with her sons.'

Carrie Underwood said she grew up listening to McCready and said: 'So sad for her family tonight. Many prayers are going out to them.'

Country artist Terri Clark said she had some fun times with her 'back in the day' and tweeted: 'I hope our society shows compassion and realizes the severity and reality of mental illness, and addiction.'

Singer Wynonna Judd posted a series of tweets also calling attention to addiction and mental illness.

'It breaks my heart what addiction continues to take from this life,' she said. 'Addiction is a disEASE & not a character flaw. When the pain becomes too much, it causes people to want that pain to stop. This is just so unbelievable & so sad.'

Cloud of suspicion: McCready appeared on television to deny that she had anything to do with her boyfriend's death. Wilson stood to inherit $143,000 from a trust this month

MINDY McCREADY'S STAR PEAKED WITH DEBUT ALBUM

Mindy McCready spent her life fighting to recapture the fame that she gained with her debut album at age 20.

1994: McCready, age 18, moves to Nashville with only karaoke tapes and dreams of becoming a star. She signs with BNA Records.

1996: McCready's debut single Ten Thousand Angels shoots to number six on the country music charts. Her next single Guys Do It All the Time became a number one hit.

Her debut album Ten Thousand Angels sells 2million copies and rises to number five on the Billboard country music charts

1997: McCready's second album If I Don't Stay the Night reaches number four on the country charts and is certified gold. She begins dating Lois and Clark star Dean Cain.

1999: Her third album I'm Not So Tough is a commercial flop, selling less than 150,000 copies. BNA drops her from the label.

2002: McCready signs with Capitol records, but the label drops her when her self-titled album is a flop as well.

2010: McCready appears on Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew. She releases her final album I'm Still Here, which rises to just number 71 on the Billboard charts and receives tepid reviews from critics.

Former baseball great Roger Clemens called the death of his ex 'sad news'.

Clemens, now a special instructor with the Houston Astros, handed reporters a written statement Monday at the team's spring training camp in Kissimmee, Florida.

It says he'd heard 'she was trying to get peace and direction in her life'.

He said McCready and her manager/agent were 'extremely nice' the 'few times' he saw her.

McCready's
career hit its peak in 1996 with her debut single Ten Thousand Angels
and the subsequent hit Guys Do It All the Time, which climbed to
number one on the country music charts.

Earlier this month, McCready was ordered to complete up to 21 days of outpatient treatment and undergo drug and alcohol tests.

'Being
involuntarily committed and having her children taken away from her was
eye-opening. It helped her realize she needs to focus on putting her
family back together and moving forward from this tragedy,' the unnamed
source told E! Online. 'She is in a better state of mind.'

McCready's spokeswoman released a
statement saying: 'As you can imagine, the tragedy of David Wilson's
death has been devastating and crippling to Mindy and her entire family.

'We can confirm Mindy was admitted to
an in-patient facility yesterday. While taking appropriate and much
needed time to grieve, her sons have been placed in foster homes where
they are comfortable and cared for.

'We have no further statement at this time. Thank you for your patience, understanding and sensitivity.'

McCready struggled with arrests and drug addition after her career began to fade in the late 1990s.

She was dropped by BNA Records in
after her 1999 album had disappointing sales and then dropped by Capitol
Records in after her 2002 record suffered the same fate.

She was arrested in Tennessee in 2004 and pleaded guilty to using a fake prescription to buy the painkiller OxyContin.

She was arrested in Nashville in May 2005 for drunk driving and driving with a suspended license after she was stopped for speeding. Two months later, she was charged with identity theft, unlawful use of transportation, unlawful imprisonment, and hindering prosecution in Arizona.

In July 2007, she was arrested in Fort Myers, Florida and charged with with fighting with her mother.

In 2005 and 2008, she was hospitalized for attempting suicide. She was taken to the hospital in 2010 for a drug overdose, as well.

Criminal record: Mindy McCready has been
arrested multiple times - for a probation violation in 2005 (left), for
allegedly assaulting her mother in 2007 (center) and for a probation
violation shortly after that (right)

Troubled: Mindy McCready, 37, has waged a public battle with drug addiction since her career peaked in 1996

McCREADY HAD MORE ARRESTS THAN HITS IN RECENT YEARS

Mindy McCready was arrested several times and attempted suicide at least twice after her success faded.

Her first arrest came in 2004 when she was busted in Tennessee for using a fake prescription to buy OxyContin.

In 2005, her ex-boyfriend Billy McKnight was arrested for attempted murder for choking and severely beating her.

That same year she was also arrested in Tennessee for drunk driving and charged in Arizona for identity theft, unlawful use of transportation, unlawful imprisonment, and hindering prosecution.

She was also charged twice in 2005 for violating her probation.

In 2007, she was arrested for beating her mother at her Fort Myers, Florida, home and resisting arrest.

The following week she was arrested for violating her probation.

She served a year in jail for the probation violation charges.

She was arrested for violating probation again in 2008.

McCready has been mounting a comeback
in recent years, though. Her 2010 album 'I'm Still Here' was praised by
critics for McCready's vocal prowess.

She also appeared on Celebrity Rehab with Dr Drew as she attempted to work out her drug issues.

On
the show's website, VH1 made references to her personal problems and
even pegged the root of her troubles on her relationships.

Her
biography on the show's page says: 'Although she was arrested and
jailed for trying to buy OxyContin with a false prescription and
attempted suicide with an overdose of drugs and alcohol, Mindy believes
her only true addiction is to violent relationships.'

Wilson's death continued to cast a cloud on McCready because the sheriff's office did not immediately rule the death a suicide.

The MailOnline revealed that he was due to inherit $143,000 just weeks after he killed himself.

Wilson was set to get the first of
three installments from a $430,000 trust fund that was left to him when
his mother Charlotte died in 2008.

The money would have arrived on February 11, which would have been his 35th birthday.

The developments raise further questions as to why Wilson would harm himself at a time when life seemed to be going so well.

He bought a new truck three weeks before his death and was living with his son Zayne, nine months.

McCready
had denied point blank any involvement in his death and she is not
being treated as a suspect in the case. But police in Cleburne County
are still investigating and have ruled nothing out. Their initial
conclusions hours after the incident were that he shot himself dead.

Custody battle: Zander, 6, was at the center of a tug-of-war between McCready and her mother, who had legal custody

Mental health: McCready admitted to the judge that she had turned to alcohol because she could not cope with the death of songwriter David Wilson

The inheritance appears to date back to his late
father Robert who died in 1986 at the age of just 48 whilst working for
Shell.

Wilson himself would have been just eight at the time.

When his mother Charlotte died in 2008
at the age of 68, her $906,000 estate was split between Wilson and his
brother Mark, apart from $45,000 she gave to charity.

On Wilson’s 35th birthday he would get just over $143,000, or one third of the pot.

On his 45th birthday he would have gotten half of the remaining amount, and on his 55th birthday he would have received the rest.

Wilson did not have a will, meaning that all his possessions -
including his $430,000 trust fund - was slated to go to his baby son Zayne.

McCready would have ‘no claim’ at all over it, according to George Wise of
Little Rock, Arkansas-based probate lawyers Brad Hendricks Law Firm.

Struggle: The country star's two sons, Zander (pictured as an infant) and Zayne, have been placed into foster care

He said: ‘Arkansas state law does not recognise common law marriages.

‘If
there was no will in this case then she won’t have any rights.
Cohabiting couples have no rights to each other’s property unless there
is shared ownership of an asset like property.

‘Given
that the child is so young someone will have to petition the court to
set up an estate and they will be called to administer that estate.

‘It could be the person who petitions the court or it could be somebody else who administers the estate’.

Mr Wise said that in cases where there were few assets, the process could be wrapped up in as little as three months.